Every year around this time, speculation as to what films will make the cut for the Cannes Film Festival reaches a fever pitch. Titles roundly tipped as near shoo-ins this year include Walter Salles’ On The Road, David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis, Derek Cianfrance’s The Place Beyond The Pines, Cristian Mungiu’s Beyond The Hills and Michael Haneke’s Amour, Deadline reported.

Also oft-cited are Ken Loach’s Angel’s Share and possibly Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master, Andrew Dominik’s Killing Them Softly (which would set Brad Pitt up for his umpteenth consecutive red carpet stroll) and possibly even the latest Terrence Malick.

However Wong Kar-Wai’s The Grandmasters will not be ready in time despite longtime hunches to the contrary. Vincent Maraval of Wild Bunch, which is handling the film internationally, said not only will it not be ready for Cannes, it won’t be ready for Venice or Toronto either as Wong will still be shooting even during Cannes.

Notoriously long in his process, Wong had the festival on tenterhooks a few years back when his 2046 was due to screen in competition, only the film hadn’t arrived by the morning of the screening. It all worked out in the end, but this year it’s a dead cert he’ll keep folks waiting a lot longer.

Also not likely to turn up, despite speculation, is James Gray’s latest with Marion Cotillard, Joaquin Phoenix and Jeremy Renner, since it just wrapped shooting last weekend.

Either way, all speculation will be put to bed on April 19 when fest general delegate and artistic director Thierry Frémaux reveals the lineup of competition, Un Certain Regard and other official selections in Paris.